Stephen Joseph Schulz (pictured) says he was only trying to help. No, really. Seriously. There was absolutely, positively nothing sinister about the raunchy M4M Craigslist ad with which he used to entice an underage teen into meeting him.
The 56-year-old Minnesota man is accused of posting more than 10 M4M personal ads, advertising himself as a 45-year-old male looking for “some hanky panky,” and then trying to lure someone he believed to be a 15-year-old male into hooking up with him, the Pioneer Press reports.
Little did he know, the underage teen was really an undercover police officer.
Schulz’s attorney argued before a jury this week that, despite what the ad said, his client didn’t really want to have gay sex with a high schooler. He was actually just trying to spare the kid from the type of abuse he experienced as a youngster, when he was allegedly molested by a priest.
According to Schulz, his father left when he was just a boy and his mother became an active member in the Roman Catholic Church. When Schultz was 13 or 14 years old, the family’s priest tried to insert his penis into the teen’s rectum but was unsuccessful because Schultz was still wearing his underpants at the time.
Schultz’s attorney told the jury that when he got a response from his Craigslist ad, he simply “wanted to meet the child, mentor him and prevent another tragedy.”
But prosecutor Yasmin Mullings wasn’t having any of it. She told the jury that Schulz posted the ad with the intention of meeting the teen “for oral and other types of sex,” that he knew full well what he was doing, and that he had plenty of time to reconsider his actions during his 40-minute drive to the planned meeting spot.
The moral of the story (aside from the obvious): Nothing good ever happens on Craigslist.
The trail continues.
Related stories:
Man Banned From Internet After Ordering Naked Craigslist Suitors For Neighbor
Boy Scouts Leader Accused Of Coercing Teens Into Late Night, Boozed-Fueled Threesome
Raphael
It’s a shame that Craigslist here in Brazil is not well known, I always wanted to try this site, see the ads…
1EqualityUSA
hanky-panky?…uh.
Bauhaus
Sounds just like the jackw@ds on To Catch A Predator.
Yeah, all of that plotting and scheming to meet for “oral and other types of sex”, was to prevent another tragedy. Okay.
Stache99
Not that it’s unusual but if he was just out to save kids the why the need to lie about your age?
tricky ricky
@1EqualityUSA: the title of a song from the Madonna album I’m Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
Interesting considering a teenager is so close to making it out of the “in danger of being molested” category.